Waiting on Wednesday: Cracked by K.M. Walton

"Waiting on Wednesday" is weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine which spotlights upcoming book releases we're excited for.

With a heavy focus on the supernatural and dystopian genres in YA literature, good contemporary works often get overlooked. And Cracked by K.M. Walton sounds like it has the potential to be an excellent and gripping novel, so I can't wait to check it out!

Details: Expected to be published in January 2012 by Simon Pulse.

Description: Victor hates his life. He has no friends, gets beaten up at school, and his parents are always criticizing him. Tired of feeling miserable, Victor takes a bottle of his mother's sleeping pills—only to wake up in the hospital.

Bull is angry, and takes all of his rage out on Victor. That makes him feel better, at least a little. But it doesn't stop Bull's grandfather from getting drunk and hitting him. So Bull tries to defend himself with a loaded gun.

When Victor and Bull end up as roommates in the same psych ward, there's no way to escape each other or their problems. Which means things are going to get worse—much worse—before they get better…

Review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

My edition: Paperback, published in 2011 by Scholastic, 482 pages.

Description: It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.

Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn't given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

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Review: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

My edition: Paperback, to be published on January 5th 2012 by Simon & Schuster, 288 pages.

Description: It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything.

Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

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Waiting on Wednesday: The Selection by Kiera Cass

"Waiting on Wednesday" is weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine which spotlights upcoming book releases we're excited for.

Oh god just look at the amazing cover of The Selection by Kiera Cass! I do not normally go hoo-ha over a frilly dress, but this one just makes my inner girly girl come out and squeal in delight. Storylinewise the novel sounds like The Hunger Games, but with additional pretty dresses and killer high heels. Awesomeness guaranteed.

Details: Expected to be published in April 2012 by HarperTeen.

Description: For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

My edition: Paperback, published in 2011 by Dutton, 338 pages.

Description: Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better.

But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future.

And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door

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Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

My edition: Paperback, published in 2011 by HarperCollins, 338 pages.

Description: The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

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Waiting on Wednesday: Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout

"Waiting on Wednesday" is weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine which spotlights upcoming book releases we're excited for.

Cursed by Jennifer L. Armenstrout looks to be Pushing Daisies meet YA paranormal romance. And since I am going through some serious Pushing Daisies withdrawl I'll take anything that sounds even remotely like it (and to be fair, Cursed sounds intriguing and exciting in its own right too!).

Details: Expected to be published September 2012 by Spencer Hill Press.

Description: Dying sucks--and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand. After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.

Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things--including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he’s a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she’s more than interested. There’s just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden's adopted father, a man she's sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she’s willing to do anything to hold her sister's hand again. And hell, she'd also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn't?

But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not've been an accident at all, she’s not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life. For real this time.

Theatre review: Matilda the Musical

Synopsis: Roald Dahl's much-loved story bursts into life on stage in this brand new musical version by Dennis Kelly and award-winning musician and comedian Tim Minchin.

Cast: The role of Matilda is shared by: Eleanor Worthington Cox, Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram and Sophia Kiely.

Adult actors: Bertie Carvel (Miss Trunchbull), Paul Kaye (Mr Wormwood), Josie Walker (Mrs Wormwood), Lauren Ward (Miss Honey), Marc Antolin, Verity Bentham, Peter Howe, Michael Kent, Melanie La Barrie, Matthew Malthouse, Alastair Parker, Nick Searle, Emily Shaw, Matthew Clark, Leanne Pinder, Rachel Moran, Lucy Thatcher, Tim Walton and Gary Watson.

The three teams of eight young performers who recreate the roles of Bruce, Lavender, Amanda, Nigel, Eric and the other pupils at Crunchem Hall Primary School are: Thomas Atkinson, Jake Bailey, James Beesley, Ruby Bridle, Oonagh Cox, Jemima Eaton, Alicia Gould, Zachary Harris, Callum Henderson, Fleur Houdijk, Jamie Kaye, William Keeler, Lily Laight, Katie Lee, Isobelle Molloy, Jemima Morgan, Toby Murray, Alfie Manser, Lucy May Pollard, Annabel Parsons, Ellie Simons, Louis Suc, Jaydon Vijn and Ted Wilson.

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Book review: The Double Shadow by Sally Gardner

My edition: Paperback, published in 2011 by Indigo, 352 pages.

Description: Arnold Ruben has created a memory machine, a utopia housed in a picture palace, where the happiest memories replay forever, a haven in which he and his precious daughter can shelter from the war-clouds gathering over 1937 Britain.

But on the day of her seventeenth birthday Amaryllis leaves Warlock Hall and the world she has known and wakes to find herself in a desolate and disturbing place.

Something has gone terribly wrong with her father's plan.



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